legend of finn
by Finn of Vantanor
Summary: "i will tell you the story of Finn Vanerax as he goes from being a young tribe member to one of the greatest heroes of the Northinian tribes"
1. prologue

**author's: I do not own Redwall Brian Jacques does so I hope you enjoy.**

**The legend of Finn **

**prologue: the traveler. **

Mossflower woods stood silent and cold in the gray winter day as snow fell continuously from the sky causing a snowstorm. At this time all the woodlanders would be in their homes with their loved one's getting warm from their fireplaces, the Redwallers at afternoon lunch in the well insulated great hall, and so the woods remained empty of all life, all life except one. An elderly rat walked thru the mass of trees, covering his body with a long dark brown colored wool cloak that protected him from the freezing wind.

This rat was old and had fur almost as white as snow which was basically unheard of in Mossflower woods, most rats had brown, reddish brown or even black colored fur but not white, he wore a gray wide brimmed hat with one of rims drooping down that cover a bit of the left side of his face, his upper torso was dressed in a thick long shabby wool robe and wore sandy colored wool trousers under it.

Clutching the inside of his cloak with his left paw and grasping his wooden staff in his right, the elderly rat marched on almost unaffected by the cold winds, in truth he was use to the cold, the land where he came from was very cold in the winter, but he was out of food and the blizzard would only become more fierce when the starless night came, he needed to find food and shelter before then, so he continued heading east gazing at each tree he passed hoping to find at least some type of berry or even a leaf to appease his growing hunger but every tree was bare with no fruit, no barres, not even a single leaf.

Ignoring the rumbling in his stomach he continued on in a steady stride. he then heard a loud thump from behind him and in the blink of an eye he had his sword out it's sheath that was attached to the leather belt around his waste clutched in his right paw with his staff now in his left as he turned around and moved into his defensive stance, all he saw was a large tree branch on the snow covered ground, he realized that the noise was just from a fallen tree branch and sheathed his sword.

His sword had a twenty-nine inch blade with a single-handed hilts and a strait Cross-guard made of iron and silver, it was not heavy like a broadsword nor thin like a rapier, it was good for speed and power. heheld his staff in his right paw again, turned around and moved back onto his original path heading east. after several hours he saw an opening from the wood twenty paw-steps away. he picked up his pace moving his wooden staff as quick as he could with his sight set on the opening using the last bit of hope he had at finding shelter before the night.

His hope was rekindled like a large piece of wood to a dieing fire, when he emerged from the vast woods to see an abbey made of red stone strongly sticking out in the bleak snow covered land. he smiled, he had seen many abbeys on his journey but this one was different from rest, it looked so welcoming it made him raise his head to the snowy sky and give out an extremely grateful thanks to Wotan the king of the gods.

then he had to remind himself that the red stone abbey was most likely to be home to woodlanders who the elderly rats knew from immense experience would probably be violent towards his kind, but he would have to take the risk, it was ether the abbey or starving to death so he began his tired march down the snow covered path leading to the the main gates all the while wondering if he had made the right decision or if he had made a decision that would cost him his life.

Meanwhile at Redwall abbey some of the Redwallers where enjoying evening tea while the Dibans played games games thru out the the rooms and halls of the abbey while the rest went about their own business, only one was outside taking a walk along the walls of the red stone abbey, this beast was a hedgehog named Branden who was in a long green tunic which was the common clothes of the Redwallers.

Branden was barely in his thirteenth season, and had never left Redwall, he was always curious in what was out there beyond the safe walls of Redwall, he sighed with his breath becoming steam in the cold air as he hunched over the wall looking across snow covered field, as his eyes roamed towards the path to the main gates he spotted a creature he couldn't recognize because of the falling snow which made it so all he saw was a blur walking down the path towards the gates.

As the creature came closer Branden could make out it's fur which was white which Branden thought was a mouse, but when the beast came closer he realized by the long snout and naked tail that it was a rat. He rushed from the wall back inside down some of the many corridors of Redwall to the room where father abbot, Layna the elder badgermaid, skipper of the otters and Kipplen an old haremaid who was a retired member of the Longpatrol, where having evening tea.

Branden burst open the door into the room panting heavily from the sprint almost making everyone drop their tea in surprise, "r..r..rat" was all he could say as he breathed heavily trying to catch his breath, "easy there Brandon, what are you saying?" abbot Bayin asked placing a calm paw on his shoulder, everyone leaned in a little bit closer to hear about what had made him so frantic. Branden inhaled heavily then exhaled to catch his breath than he tried again "there is a rat on the path heading towards the abbey" he answered.

The second he said rat Kipplen mood went from curious to serious, jumping from her chair "vermin here at Redwall abbey, don't worry young'n we'll send this foul beast to the black gates where it belongs" Kipplen stated that was almost a shout. "please Kipplen we do not choose violence if it can be avoided, that is the way of Redwall abbey" abbot Bayin said trying to calm Kipplen down.

Kipplen sighed "i know abbot but this is vermin, you know they can't be trusted," "i agree with Kipplen, ever since this abbey was built vermin have always been it's enemies" skipper said agreeing with Kipplen's opinion, "i know but Redwall abbey has always stood for peace, to help and to show compassion to any beast that's needed it" Bayin replied peacefully getting out of his chair.

Layna chose this time to interrupt this small argument "let us stop this argument and see what this rat wants." "nothing good I tell ya" Kipplen stated heading towards the the door as everyone fallowed into the corridor with Branden in the lead. abbot turned to skipper "fetch a few members of your halt and and a couple of the Redwall guards and meet us at the wall facing the path as quickly as you can" Bayin said to skipper while they rushed towards the exit to grounds.

Skipper nodded and dashed off down another hall. When they got outside they headed strait for the stars that lead to the top of the west wall. Making it up the stairs they all peered over the wall to get a good look at the rat heading down the path towards their abbey. " I have never seen a white furred rat before" Kipplen stated with astonishment.

The elderly rat was now only ten paw-steps away from the main gate, he was still nervous about how the Redwallers would react to him since he was a rat. When he was only a couple of paw-steps away from the large gates he heard a voice coming from up above him "halt! Vermin! State your your name and business with this abbey." the rat looked up to see the owner of the voice and saw a haremaid with a stern look on her face.

He also saw that she wasn't alone, there on the wall with her was an elderly mouse, a badgermaid, a tough looking otter and a young looking hedgehog along with at least seven armored beast that where armed with swords and bows, some looked anxious to notch their arrows, take aim and fire on the elderly rat.

"have I the pleasure of addressing the leader of this abbey?" he asked gripping his staff steadily "no." the rat turned to see the elderly mouse move to stand next the haremaid "i am Bayin father abbot of this abbey" abbot Bayin stated adjusting his spectacles "and as Kipplen said what is your name and purpose here?" he asked.

"I am Owyn Valrax of the Valrax clan from the Nedrenii tribe in Northinland to the far north in the northern sea and I have come to seek food and shelter" Owyn answered hoping they would grant him shelter and especially food. "how do we know your not trying to trick us rat" Kipplen asked aggressively, she was almost certain that this rat was trouble for the abbey.

"this is not a trick, I need food or ill die of starvation" he replied and as if on Que his stomach began giving big rumbles as if calling out to him, begging him for food. "then you'd better do it, this world would be better off with one less vermin, leave and never comeback" Kipplen said with a pitiless voice. "Kipplen!" abbot Bayin shouted angrily at the haremaid for her ignorance "that is not how this abbey lives by" he said regaining his calm voice.

He then turned his attention back to Owyn "the code of this abbey is to help any beast that is in need. I will permit you entrance into this abbey but we will have to relieve your weapons if you have any" Bayin announce. Immediately some of the others began murmuring their doubts about the abbot's decision. But it was Kipplen who actually spoke out loud against Bayin's decision "but! Bayin this is vermin, if we let him in Redwall he will murder us all in our sleep, it will be better just to send him away."

Bayin shook his head in disagreement "no Kipplen, we have a code to fallow." he turned to two of the guards "open the gates and let him in but make sure he gives you all of his weapons" he told them. they nodded in return and headed down the stairs towards the gate gripping their spears tightly just in case the rat became violent. But of course Owyn had no intention of being violent as he waited for them to open so he could take shelter from the freezing winter weather.

The gate opened as the two mice pushed it opened and Owyn headed towards the entrance to abbey, but before he could go in the two guards stopped him "remove any weapons you have on you and hand them to us" the one on the right said holding his spear out defensively in front himself. Owyn nodded and reach into his wool cloak and unstrapped his sheathed sword from his belt and handed it to the mouse. The mouse took it and stuffed it under his arm.

Owyn then reached in again and unstrapped his sheathed Seax which was a knife that had a foot long blade and handed it to the second mouse. "is that all?" the mouse asked still suspicious that he might have a concealed weapon somewhere on his person. Owyn nodded in reply opening his cloak to reveal no other weapons and let them check his traveling sack finding no weapons. The mouse nodded "fallow us please" the mouse said gesturing with his hand for Owyn to fallow and Owyn fallowed them in threw the gates and silently gave an even more grateful thanks to Wotan.

Once threw the gates he was met by the beast from the wall, Bayin was the first to came forward to greet him holding out his paw for Owyn to shake "welcome to our beautiful abbey and I am sorry for our suspicion, we have had bad history with vermin" he said shaking Owyn's hand politely. "i understand sir and thank you" Owyn replied shaking the abbots paw in return. Owyn then adjusted his hat to reveal that he had a long scare running down the left side if his face into his left eye socket showing that he was missing a left eye.

Branden and a couple of the others cringed a little bit at the sight of it but said nothing. The abbot was surprised by the sight to but pushed the feeling away "is there anything you need?" Bayin asked. "food please, I would really be grateful for some food" Owyn answered almost immediately. Bayin nodded "it will be almost time for the winter feast, there will be lots of food and drink, I will announce your stay among us to the rest of the abbey-dwellers then." Owyn nodded breathing a sigh of relief, finally after so long he would be able to satisfy his horrible hunger.

Bayin then pointed to the other abbey-beast " you haven't been acquainted with others, well you already know Kipplen" he said pointing to the haremaid. Kipplen turned her head and held her nose high with her eyes closed ignoring Owyn's presence. Abbot sighed Kipplen still held her grudges against vermin. He then pointed to the others "this young hedgehog is Branden, he is the apprentice of our scribe" he said gesturing towards the hedgehog. "hi" Brandon said waving his hand making a parcel smile on his face, never in in his whole life had he expected to make a polite acquaintance with a rat.

"this is Layna, she may look fierce but she's got a kind heart." Layna smiled "hello" she said waving her hand as well. "this is skipper of the otters." skipper nodded neither smiling or frowning his face was unreadable. Bayin then turned to the guards that had relieved Owyn of his weapons "show our guest to the a dorm where he will be staying for the night."

Kipplen looked as if as if she was about to protest but said nothing, knowing that it was useless to argue. The two guards began walking towards the doors that led into the interior of the abbey motioning for Owyn to fallow them. Owyn fallowed them inside marching down the halls of the abbey. By then word had spread to some of the abbeybeast that a rat had been granted entrance into Redwall. Owyn saw some of these Redwallers staring at him, some of them with curiosity, others with suspicion, and even a couple with revulsion on their faces.

Owyn just ignored the stares and kept walking. Eventually they reached a door that led into a room. The guards stood aside from the door for him to go into the room "this is where you will stay, the feast will start in few minutes, come down when your done unpacking and remember no funny business or your stay at Redwall will be very uncomfortable" he warned. Owyn just nodded as he went into the room and closed the door behind him.

Looking around he saw that there was just a bed with a small table with a lantern, next to the bed and a chair with a desk in front of it. Owyn unstrapped his leather traveling pack and set it on the bed. His pack was almost empty with just a few small sculptures made of wood and stone. The small figures where sculptures of some of the gods of his Tribe. His fellow tribebeast believed that when you left your homeland you must take an image of some of the gods with you to have good fortune.

One of the figures was the fox Rowan god war and storms, and another was the rat Wotan king of the gods. The last figure was a female weasel named Gallica goddess of beauty and battle, even as a stone sculpture her features where beautiful. Owyn set them on the table and took off his wool cloak and left the room heading back down the hall to find his way to the dining hall. On his way he saw the hedgehog Branden from the wall waiting down the corridor. When he reached the young hedgehog it had turned out he was waiting for him. "Abbot wanted me to escort you to the Dinning hall." "thank you" Owyn replied with gratitude and fallowed Branden to the dinning hall.

When they got to the dinning hall Owyn could hear the loud noise being made by all the abbeybeast sitting down waiting for the feast to begin. Branden spoke to skipper who was standing outside the door to the dinning hall "tell father abbot that the ra-I mean Owyn has arrived." skipper nodded and entered the hall heading strait for Bayin. When he told him what Branden said the abbot stood up from his chair called for silence to speak.

"my friends and fellow abbeybeast, a little while ago we gave entrance to a beast from a far land who needed help into the abbey. his name is Owyn and I hope you make him feel welcomed." he turned his head towards the entrance and Branden gestured for Owyn to fallow him into the hall. Once Owyn entered the dining hall many shocked gasps came from the Redwallers at the sight of the rat.

A lot of murmurs broke out among the abbeybeast "the abbot let a vermin into Redwall, is he crazy?" he heard one rabbit murmur to her companion and another Redwaller leaned in to say something to his friend "if we let that rat stay here he will kill us all, they should have just killed him" said with hostility. Owyn decided to just ignore the hostile comments and fallowed Branden to an empty space to sit.

They both sat down on the seat, Owyn sat with Branden on his right and a squirrelmaid on his left who edged a bit away from him when he sat down. He picked up his plate and filled it's surface with food and filled his glass with a drink the abbeybeast called strawberry-cordial, he had never heard of the drink before. where he came they had many types of mead like grape-mead, strawberry-mead, cranberry-mead, apple-mead and many more.

He took a sip of it and the sweet taste filled his mouth, this was one of the best drinks he had ever tasted. he had never thought that there could be any drink that tasted as good as the mead the Northinian tribes made but it appeared that he was wrong. He then took a bite out some of the food and it was delicious. some of the best food he had had in a long time and his stomach eagerly welcomed the delicious food.

"so what is the land you from like?" Branden asked a little curious, "it's huge with big snowy mountains, green and yellow fields, gorgeous valleys, large forests, nice beaches and the Gragnyn river." "what's the Gragnyn river?" Branden asked inquiringly "the Gragnyn river is a massive river that is the border between Northinland and Icillania" he answered simply. "what's Icillania?." "Icillania is the land of the wildcats which is mostly made up of dense woodlands."

the second he mentioned wildcats a lot of the abbeybeast siting at the table turned their attention towards Owyn. "you have cats!" a shrew said with shock "yep" he replied calmly. "what about woodlanders?" Branden asked wanting to know more about the inhabitants of the lands the rat came from. "no, there are no woodlanders" he answered in a tranquil voice, "why?."

"because nether woodlanders nor vermin are natives to Nothinland or Icillania or the outlands. The real natives are the wolves, wildcats and other creatures. Every time woodlanders tried to settle in ether lands they where driven away, but fifteen thousand seasons ago the tribes migrated to Nothinland and we wouldn't leave. You see we tribebeast tend to very stubborn so we decided to fight and that's what started claw-war, and the wolf-war some time after that."

"what about the wolves are they worse than the wildcats?." "yes much worse, the wolves are a savage, bloodthirsty race who treat their enemies like prey. Luckily we drove them into the outlands" Owyn replied calmly. "what about the wildcats?" the shrew who had been shocked to hear about wildcats asked again. "the claw-war I mentioned about a minute ago was our war with the wildcats. Pitranus was king of the Noonbii tribe who had successfully managed to unite the tribes together to do battle with the wildcats and after tons of gruesome battles we beat them and made a treaty with them to have the border of our two lands be the Gragnyn river. Grag was one of our river gods, and Nyn was an Icillanian river god, so we we combined both of their names to name the river as a sign of peace between our two races."

the shrew nodded amazed by the story. "and what about the wolves?" Branden asked curious to know about the wolves. "we fought the wolves in the wolf-wars." "was it worst than the claw-wars?" "yes, the wolves used stealth-like warfare almost like hunting, and their territory is made up of dense woods making their attacks even more unpredictable. It was even worse when they made attacks at night. After so many ferocious battles we began to have more losses than victories and we had to get help, so we had to swallow our pride and ask the Icillanian wildcats for help. At first they refused, still bitter from losing the claw-wars so we had to make a deal with them and they accepted it, and so Felcrix king of the Icillanian wildcats and Dahnnus the son Pitranus who had been killed by the wolves when he was young, shook paws as a symbol of the alliance between the tribes and the wildcats, and together we crushed the wolves and drove them back to the outlands."

"do they still war with you tribebeast?" Branden asked. "yes but they are now divided and are only able to make small raids, not large wars" Owyn answered, "what about the deal that the tribes made with the wildcats?." "the deal was that we would teach them how to make weapons and armor better because in the claw-wars they only had weapons made out of bronze and we had weapons made out of iron, so we showed them how mine for iron and how to forge it into weapons, and the wildcats taught us how to hunt for food and to know when the time was right to plant seeds and harvest the crops, so in the end we both benefited from one another."

Branden nodded amazed by the story "how many tribes are there?" he asked, "oh there are a lot but sometimes over the many seasons a few die off" "so what are the occupations for the tribebeast?" "there are farmers, warriors, elders, the kings and queens, the Schamanes who are the spiritual leaders and healers in a tribe." another question entered Branden's mind "earlier you said that you where part of a clan and a tribe, whats the difference between a clan and a tribe?"

"a tribe is community of beasts who live together on the same territory and share the same lifestyle and customs. A clan is basically a giant family of tribebeast who share the same ancestor, my last name is Valrax so I am from the Valrax clan and my ancestor is the mighty warrior rat known as Valrax." "so did all the clans first appears at the same time or where they created at different times?"

"they first appeared at different times, I think the Vercinjetorex clan was the first. Or was it the Orcryx clan?, I don't know, it was ether the Vercinjetorex or the Orcryx clan, they might have both appeared at same time" Owyn chuckled remembering how the Vercinjetorex and Orcryx would argue while drunk about who was the oldest clan, that would often turn into a fight with them hurling food at each other.

"what happened to your eye?" this question came from a small mouse that looked no bigger than seven seasons old. Owyn sighed "there was a battle, long time ago, not very appropriate for a feast" he answered calmly but Branden could tell from his one good eye and facial features that the question had upset him, but why?. After desert was finished it was time for the telling of a story. Abbot Bayin stood up from his seat at the head table to speak "it is now time for storytelling and I think it would be a great idea for our guest to tell a story, if that is okay with you Owyn." "yes sir I don't mind telling a story" Owyn said nodding his approval.

But there where some abbeybeast who where muttering to themselves "is he seriously going to let a vermin tell a story, what kind of stories can a vermin tell" an otter muttered a little bit to loudly to not be heard by Owyn. "hes probably going to tell us about all the sick, disgusting things his kind has done." Owyn just ignored the the snide comments and fallowed Branden from the table to the the exit of the dining hall.

He continued to fallow him down the corridors until they went into a large room with places to sit and a chair in front of them all. Other Redwallers began inter the room, a majority of them where young'ns eager to hear a story, then some more of the older abbeybeast came to hear what type of story a vermin could tell, even Kipplen, Layna and Bayin came to hear a story. Owyn sat down in the main chair thinking of a story to tell,. There where so many stories he knew from the Northinian tribes, but there was one that he just had to tell. "i will tell all of you the story of Finn Vanerax, a story of tragedy, courage, revenge and loyalty. This is the story of one of the greatest heroes of his time."

**author's note: this will be the last time Redwall will appear in this story unless I make an epilogue. I don't know if this is correct in the books but in this story a season is basically their equivalent to a year, and I would like to dedicate this story to Brian Jacques who passed away some days ago. please review **


	2. Chapter 1

**Legend of Finn **

**author's note: I did not put myself in the story I just changed my profile name because I liked the character. This story will contain a lot of violence, tragic moments and some verbal abuse. I do not own Redwall Brian Jacques does so I hope you enjoy.**

**sadness grief and apprenticeship **

Finn had just woken up from a terrible nightmare in which his both of his parents where lying dead on a ship that appeared damage from a battle. His mother had four arrows stuck in her chest and his father had wounds all over his body with one deep gash on his abdomen. They where lying on their backs side by side clasping hands staring lifelessly at each other. To Finn's surprise both of them had a loving smile on their faces even in death they could still still smile.

Finn shook his head, his parents couldn't be dead, his father was Lithorn king of the Nedrenii tribe, and he would never let anything happen to his mother. The fox decided to push the nightmare out of his head and sat up in his bed that was made out of oak wood and pushed away his blankets made of sheepskin. He looked around his family's roundhouse to see that his father, mother and his brother Gallen and the other twenty Nedrenii members that accompanied them where not back from their mission with the corsairs that had offered gold and silver as a reward for taking the mission.

He changed into his red colored tunic and put on his pair of gray wool trousers, since it was spring, the air outside the roundhouse was still cold, he also put on his long wool cloak that was smaller the adult ones and was made for a beast his age since he was only seven seasons old.

After he exited his home he saw that it was morning and there where other Nedrenii members who where out going about their business in the village. His village was called Nergovia that was located just in front the Nalgorn woods on the hill lands. Nergovia was about the size of twenty acres of woods and had a wooden wall that circled around the village like a giant ring with platforms for warriors to defend it. Some of the tribebeast where hauling in sacks of meat that they had collected from hunting, whiles others had fires going to cook the meat.

Some of the young ones who where the same age as he was, with some a little bit older and others a little bit younger where helping their parents and fellow tribebeast with work around the village. So Finn decided to go over help his aunt Helga who was his father's sister and a Vanerax clan member. she was working in the field digging up the soil to plant seeds for wheat that would be harvested in autumn to make bread.

he walked over to his aunt, when he was only a few pawsteps away the vixen looked up and smiled pleasantly "good morning Finn, sleep well?" she asked. Finn shook his head "no I had a horrible nightmare." Helga's smile kinda faltered as she tried to find words that would comfort him, "it's only a dream, it will pass in time." "but this had seemed so real and I feel like something wrong, oh I hope mom and dad, Gallen and the others get back soon" he said with a felling of dread rising up inside of him.

His aunt reassured him that everything would be okay. Finn nodded and went to work digging up soil and planting seeds in ground then covered them with dirt. After at least two hours he heard a lookout on the wall next to the main gates shout "the beast from the mission are returning!." Finn's head turned towards the source of the voice and ran for the main-gates.

After the word had spread around all the tribebeast where wide awake, some like Finn had loved ones that had gone on the mission with his family. When Finn reached the gates he waited as the gates where being pushed open by the gate guards. When the gates where opened he stared down the dirt road that led to the gates he saw that instead of twenty Nedrenii warrior there where only six and each of them where pulling carts that had things that looked like bodies covered in tacky colored cloths, and Finn saw that his father, mother and brother where not with the ones carrying the carts.

He knew what it meant but he did not want to except it, his mind clung to the hoped that his parents and brother where just behind them, but they weren't. The six survivors where Tor a fox from the Valwulf clan, Nor a rat from the Valrax Clan, Volcryn a weasel from the Manyx clan and three ferrets from the Valarex clan. Each of them had wounds and scars from battle, one of them had his arm around his companion's shoulder for support as he limped from having a deep gash to his right leg.

When they got near the gates several gate guards went and helped them pull the carts threw the gates. By then it seemed as if every Nedrenii had gathered by the gates to see what was going on. A lot of them where calling out "where are the others?." "where's king Lithorn, queen Lendrana and Gallen?" Finn heard them shout but he wanted to see his family, he pushed his way threw the crowd to the survivors "where my mom, dad and brother?" Finn asked his voice trembling.

Tor sighed as he looked down at his own lower paws in sorrow and moved over to one of the carts and removed the cloth that cover what was in the cart. In the cart was the bodies of his mother and father. Every beast that was gathered around let out gasps of shock, and Finn's eyes grew wide as grief began to fill his mind. "the corsair ship we where on was attacked by band of woodlanders such as hares mice and otters, they where led by a badger named Boarmir. There where more than the corsairs told us, at least a hundred, but we fought them like true warriors and where on verge of defeating them but they shot arrows and several of them hit Lendrana and the rest they had the arrow heads lit with fire and set fire to the boat. Lithorn fought Boarmir by himself and eventually killed him with the diving falcon strike but Boarmir stabbed him with his sword before he died. After he died the woodlanders eventually scattered but the ship was burning so we only had enough time to retrieve the dead before it sank."

Finn heard his aunt give out a cry of grief and started to sob uncontrollably as she saw the corpses of her brother, and best friend "no! Not them oh gods no!." Tears began to fill Finn's eyes as he was on the verge of sobbing to. Other Nedreniis sobbed as well seeing the cloths covering other bodies removed to reveal a loved one that had been killed in battle.

His parents clothes where stained with blood and like in his dream his father had a deep cut into his abdomen and his mother altho they had been removed had four puncture wounds on her chest that only arrows could make. It was as if his nightmare had become reality and he prayed to Wotan that this was just a terrible dream, but it was not, this was reality. "where is Gallen?." Tor frowned "he got separated from us when the ship caught fire, and when we made it safely on the smaller boats we couldn't find him anywhere, he must have been dragged down below."

the words pieced Finn in the heart like an arrow hitting it's intended victim causing even more grief to swell in his body. A female rat named Oakwyn who was the head of the Valrax clan had moved away from the crowed over to the carts sighing sadly "take the wounded to the Schamanes to have their wounds treated, and take the bodies to dalith chamber." some of the wall guards nodded and guided the injured warriors to the sick-chamber, while the most of the others pulled the carts towards the dalith chamber, some of the of the Nedrenii beast helped pull the carts. Finn was one of the beast helping the warriors pull the carts.

The fox pulled the cart with his parents in it, he was helped by his aunt and many others from the Vanerax clan as they headed straight for the the dalith chamber. In the chamber the bodies where place on stone slabs to be prepared for their funeral. There where six Schamanes who where cleaning the dead bodies with wet rags to soak away the dry blood from the deceased.

Finn stood next to the slab that both of his parents where laid on their backs with their front sides facing the sealing. Finn stared at both of them with tears slowly falling down his face, he didn't even notice Helga standing next to him and placing her hand on his shoulder. He looked up at his aunt and she looked at him, both of them had tears of sorrow running from their eyes down their cheeks.

Finn had to rub his eyes with his sleeve as the tears stung them. He reached out one his arms and placed his right paw on his father's chest, his father had a sword wound that cut across his chest like a big red line with blood splattered all around it. Finn lifted his paw away from his father's chest to see fresh blood from the cut covering his paw, he stared at his paw as if the blood that stained it was the blood of a beautiful slithy who's blood was said to cause horrible sorrow to any mortal who sees it.

Helga told Finn that he should leave the chamber, so he left. When he was outside he just aimlessly walked around staring at his lower paws, the image of his parents bodies where burned into his mind. Just then he heard some of his fellow tribe members shouting hateful and scornful words at someone who he could not see clearly. When he moved closer he saw that it was the halfbreed Valhallia, she was half rat and half squirrel, she had the ears, paws and teeth of a rat but the rest of her was a squirrel.

"what are you doing here scum?" a weasel snarled, "yeah your not welcomed here" another shouted, "go away monster" a young fox shouted. Finn felt anger rise inside of him but the anger wasn't directed towards the others, it was at Valhalla, _"yes she looks like one of them, she deserves to be hated, she should have been driven away a long time ago" _he thought cruelly, he almost wanted to go over and join in on attacking her verbally but before he could decide a rat named Velran who was the leader of the Nivurix clan came, "everyone stop this at once!" he shouted. His shout had been fierce and commanding silencing the crowd, he guided Valhallia away from the crowd towards the Nivurix part of the village.

Valhallia's father had been a member of the Nivurix clan before he died, Finn didn't really know much about her or the rest of her family, but he didn't care he still hated her for what she was. "yeah!, leave here you freak!" Finn shouted as she and Velran where leaving, she looked back at him with her eyes filled with tears that had hurt and grief in them, they seemed to ask a silent question _"why do you all hate me?."_

for a second Finn felt bad about shouting hateful words at her, after all she wasn't one of the beast that killed his parents, why should she get shunned for their crimes?. Finn shook the guilt away, no she is a halfbreed, a halfbreed!, That is an abomination. Finn headed back to his family's roundhouse suddenly feeling tired from the pain in his heart. When he entered the roundhouse he got into his bed and begin to cry heavily into his sheepskin covers as he fell into a troubled sleep.

Later his aunt came into the roundhouse to tell him that they where going to start the funeral, he nodded "I'm coming" he said rubbing his eyes and getting out of his bed. Finn left his family home and headed straight for the his tribe's burial ground which was on the hills west of the of the village. On the way he ran into his best friend Thorn Valrax who was waring a green plaid tunic and brown trousers and his fur was white as snow, "hay" he said "hay" Finn replied halfheartedly,. The rat stared at the ground sadly "I'm sorry." "it's not your fault" Finn sighed.

When the two reach the burial ground it was surrounded by thousands of tribebeast and not just from the Nedrenii but also from others, he saw some from the Arvernii tribe, the Lunabiis, the Icenis, the Torans and the Valcia tribe. It was tradition that all the members of the tribe where to attend the burial of their tribal king and some of the other tribes came to pay their respects even Valhallia was there but no one objected to her being there, the other tribes that where not on good terms with the Nedrenii tribe especially the Goths and the Saxions did not attend.

But even their enemies knew that it was dishonorable to attack them while they where mourning the death of a leader, but after the funeral they might take a chance and attack the Nedrenii tribe before the elder council could elect a leader. Finn and Thorn made their way to the huge gathering of tribebeast, when made came over the tribe members turned around and recognized Finn as son of the late king and queen. They all parted to let both of them walk straight to the front of the gathered tribebeast.

In ones in the front was the leaders of the Nedrenii's clans, Oakwyn the leader of Valrax who was also Thorn's grandmother stood next to the head Schamane Goothar with her hands clasping together in front of her. when Finn and Thorn came Oakwyn gestured for Thorn to stand by her and Goothar gestured for Finn to stand by him as well. Finn took his place next to Goothar, Goothar placed his paw on his shoulder "i am sorry young one, but remember your family is now with the gods in himneskurkastala" he reassured Finn to make him feel better, Finn nodded and looked at the bodies of his mother and father wrapped in white silk that where placed in two freshly dig pits waiting to be buried.

Everyone bowed their heads as Goothar began the ceremonial speech "may Wotan bless thee and guide thee to the golden halls of himneskurkastala, may the gods welcome thee with a great feast in your honor, may the gods also welcome other brave warriors for their bravery, and may Sappor lord of good fortune bless their families with his great fortune, gods be praised" he finished, "gods be praised" everyone repeated.

After that the Schamanes covered his parents bodies in dirt as they covered the two holes. When they finished they set their spirit stones on each their mounds, the stone with his mother's runic sign was placed on top of her mound and his father's runic sign on top his mound. A runic sign was the symbol of one's true self, Finn wouldn't receive his runic sign until he became twelve seasons old.

After they buried the rest of the dead most of the tribebeast left except for Finn and the rest of the families of the dead warriors. Finn dropped to knees in front of parents graves letting tears fall freely from his eyes. It began to rain and the rain covered his tears, he ignored the raindrops that soaked his clothes, he had forgotten his cloak by his bed. "mum, dad, brother, I am sorry, I should have been there, I could have saved you all, I'm so sorry, I promise to be the strongest warrior ever and I will protect everyone, I swear it."

Helga told him to head back home before he cached a cold and Finn did not object and headed straight home. When he got into his families roundhouse he lit a fire in the fire-pit and took off his soaked tunic. He then turned to see that his aunt had left a basket full of fresh bread and sheep meat on the wooden table. Just then he felt his stomach give a loud rumble as the feeling of hunger seized him.

He put some the meat in a bronze cooking pot, he molded the meat into small wheel shapes to make what they called meatwheels and placed the pot over the fire to cook. The truth is that tribal parents always taught their children how live on their own at a very young age but it still didn't help ease his pain. He took a deerskin blanket from his brother's bed and wrapped it around his body and sat on a chair by the fire eating pieces of bread from the the basket.

When the meat was done cooking he grabbed a cloth to lift the pot out of the fire since the pot was very hot and placed it on the ground beside the fire-pit. he then grabbed a jar of grape-mead and pored the sweet drink into a wooden cup, Finn sat back down in his seat and took a bite out one of the meatwheels. The delicious taste of it entered his mouth and his stomach gladly excepted the food.

He took a sip of his grape-mead, the sweet taste use to always lighten his spirit, but it didn't help this time, instead he remembered how his family would eat together every night, he remembered the time when he was younger how his older brother Gallen had convinced him that if you put your hand on pot while it was in the fire-pit you would gain great wisdom, his curiosity got the better of and he touched the boiling hot pot and he had given out such a strong squeal that his parents heard him outside, his mother had been furious with his brother that she told him to sit on the pot to give him a taste of his own medicine or he would be stripped of his apprentice duties for a season, he had no other choice but sit on the pot, he told him that he was never able to sit down without feeling a sting on his backside for seasons.

Finn thought of so many happy memories of his parents and brother that he felt the grief rise in his chest and there was nothing he could do to stop it. After he finished the rest of the meatwheels and most of the bread he set the deerskin blanket back on his brothers bed and went to his bed covering himself in his sheepskin blanket and fell asleep. His dreams where troubled by the reality of his family's death, the sight of his dead parents haunted him as he slept.

The next morning after he finished breakfast he went outside to find some of his friends to play with hoping to feel better. He eventually found Thorn, Alfarin a ferret from the Valarex, and Bolla a weasel from the Manyx, Alfarin was a laid back almost lazy like beast, it seemed as if he didn't even care if he passed the warrior tests, Bolla on the other hand was very excited to to take the tests, but first they needed to be assigned to a senior warrior to train them in fighting and stealth skills, they also needed to learn how to activate the Blutaugen.

The Blutaugen was a natural ability that the tribes had developed thousands of seasons ago, it turned the user's eyes blood red and granted the user incredible eye sight in which they could see and anticipate attacks at amazing speeds, it was a very big surprise when his brother Gallen activated his Blutaugen before he had received any training, it was said that he was a rare child and was destined to have great power. But Finn swore that he would be a great warrior and become the greatest king the tribes had ever seen to make his family proud.

"hay Finn want to play some schleudernball?" Bolla asked with her usually cheerful voice "sure" he answered. She turned to asked the others the same question, Thorn nodded, Alfarin just grunted while he rested on the ground. Bolla just rolled her eyes, Finn had always wondered why she was best friends with Alfarin, they where exact opposites but despite that they where close friends. "oh come on Alfarin you lazy bum, get your fur off of the ground."

she lightly kicked him in the side, he got up from the ground rubbing his side "okay okay I'll play, jeez that hurt." she scuffed "oh that I didn't even leave a mark you git." "yeah well your a mad-beast, so only you think that when you kick someone that it doesn't hurt" he retorted. "well you got some nerve you idle smeghead" she countered. "okay guys lets just go to the field now for Wotan's sake" Finn said exasperated by their bickering.

Bolla nodded and grabbed the blue schleudernball then fallowed the others into the fields. They found an empty spot to play, some of the other spots where being used by professional schleudernball players

The rules of schleudernball where you had to have at least two players on each team, the players hurl the ball across the field to each of their teammates to try and hurl it threw a hoop tied on top of a stacked pile of wood that was at least six feet tall but the ball can not touch the ground and players could not punch, kick or elbow their opponents, the players could also spike it and use their heads.

Finn and the others where about to play when they heard someone call out to them, they turned around to see Stravin the wolverine from the Malinor clan walking towards them "hay guys can we play to?" he asked cheerfully. What did he mean by we?. Just then he saw Valhallia right behind him with a shy look on her face. "what's she doing here?" Finn said sourly.

Stravin turned his head to look at Valhallia "i asked her if she wanted to play with us and she said yes" he answered calmly. "why should we include her she's a halfbreed Stravin" Finn said with an almost growl tone to his voice. "so, who cares if she is a halfbreed" the wolverine retorted. "i care and the rest of us care including most of the tribe, she looks like one of them, a woodlander who has killed our kind in countless numbers."

Stravin went from from his usually cheerful mood to an angry expression on his face as he walked right up to Finn towering over him since he was a season older than Finn and was two head-lengths taller thanks to his species great size. "well she not like them she is kind and sweet and if you say one more bad thing about her I will knock you into the dirt!" Stravin warned clenching his paws into fist for emphasis.

"y..you don't have to threaten him Stravin, if they want me leave I will just leave" Valhallia said looking down sadly starting turn around to leave. Stravin grabbed her wrist with a large paw before she could walk away, "no just because he doesn't want you to play doesn't mean the rest of us don't, right guys?." Alfarin just did his usual sigh "if Stravin wants her to play then I say let her play." Stravin grinned at Alfarin who was one of his best friends, "thanks mate, and what about you Bolla?" he asked his other best friend. Bolla just looked nervous at choosing sides but she had to side with her best friends, "if you two want her to play then I don't mind." Stravin grinned again. "great and you Thorn?" "i don't care" "and what about you Finn can she play or not?."

Finn gritted his teeth angrily he hated being intimidated but he knew there was no point in arguing, "fine! she can play but she's not on my team" he sighed. Stravin beamed and clapped Valhallia lightly on the shoulder "see I told you they would let you play with them." Valhallia almost smiled as happiness swelled up inside of her no one ever let her join in their games before and the few times she tried they all would call her names like freak and monster, so she almost given up but then she met Stravin, Stravin was the only one who treated her like she was a fellow tribebeast instead of a monster. "thank you Stravin" she said with smile on her face. "there's no need to thank me, your my friend and friends always support each other" he said cheerfully.

Finn, Thorn and Bolla mouths dropped open in shock, Stravin a pure wolverine and a member of the Nedrenii tribe, called Valhallia who is a halfbreed a friend. "hello where did you go?" the wolverine said waving his paw to snap them back to reality. The truth is Stravin wasn't really like the rest of his species, they where usually bad tempered, and pretty aggressive but Stravin was almost the opposite, he was levelheaded and didn't become very aggressive unless someone used the D-word or insulted his friends.

They made two teams, one was named the thunderhurlers, and the other was called the windcutters, most tribebeast would make up names for teams in a game regular schleudernball but in the professional version the team names where official and could not be changed. Stravin, Valhalla and Alfarin where team thunderhurlers, and Finn, Thorn and Bolla where team windcutters. They all took their positions on the field, Stravin hung back just in case they tried to make a goal while Valhalla and Alfarin in front. Finn and his team took a similar position on the other side facing them "ready?" he asked "ready" the other team answered.

Finn tossed the ball high into the air as it reached the top of it's clime and started drop back down Alfarin moved under it to intercept it. Finn also did the same squatting only a inch from Alfarin. When the ball came into range they both leaped into the air to catch it. Alfarin caught it first and past it to Valhallia who managed to move quicker than Bolla and caught it. Stravin use this time to move past Finn into a position for a good pass. Valhallia took one paw-step forward and hurled the ball in his direction.

It sailed threw the air right on course into Stravin's outstretched hand. Stravin turned around to face his opponents goal hoop, pulled back his arm and shoot it threw the hoop scoring them one point. Soon after that the windcutters scored a goal. Many minutes later Finn scored the windcutters their fourteenth goal with a jump spike threw the hoop, with the thunderhurlers on their thirteenth but with a great interception by Alfarin he scored their fourteenth goal. Finn passed the ball to Thorn who jump to catch it, when caught, while he was still in the air he tossed it to Bolla who was close enough to the thunderhurlers goal hoop to score the winning point.

She caught the ball, turned around to hurl it threw the hoop and let it fly but when the ball was only a foot away from the hoop, Stravin jumped into the air and snatch the ball out of it's flight to it's intended target. Stravin saw Valhallia close to the goal, using almost all of his strength he flung the ball across the field in her direction. She crouched down on the ground, when the ball came in range she leaped into the air and back flipped catching the ball with a kick of her right foot sending it rocketing threw the windcutters goal hoop scoring the winning point for her team.

Everyone looked shocked at what she did, only some of the professional players could do a flip-shot, "where did you learn that?" Thorn asked his mouth gaping open "i..i learned it by myself" she answered becoming nervous with their looks making her face turn red a bit. "that was amazing!" Stravin exclaimed coming over to give her a friendly hug which made the others including Valhallia gasp, never has she ever been hugged by anyone else not even her uncle on her father's side of the family, "you won the game for us, your amazing" the wolverine said breaking away from the hug, "t. Stravin" she replied still stunned by the complement. They continued to play for several hours until they couldn't play anymore.

Finn felt his stomach growl and realized that it was evening "it's almost time for the dinner feast, we should get back." everyone nodded in agreement and fallowed him from the field back threw the wall gates into the village "well I'll see the rest of you at the feast" Finn said waving his hands goodbye, "goodbye" they replied even Valhallia but he didn't pay much attention to her. But before he turned around to go he saw Stravin give Valhallia a hug "see you later" he said waving goodbye walking away, "" she said smiling as she waved him goodbye.

Finn groaned rolling his eyes almost revolted by the sight and he was not alone, other Nedrenii members where staring at the wolverine and the halfbreed, some had looks of shock, others had looks of disgust and some of them where whispering low enough that only Finn could hear "that's disgusting, he should be ashamed of himself for touching or talking with that _thing_."

Finn left the scene back to his home, there he saw his aunt Helga standing by the front waiting for him. She gave him a hug "since your parents are not here anymore I will be the one responsible for you, so first get some new clothes your filthy" she said in a fussy like voice. Finn did see that she was right his tunic and wool trousers where covered with spots of dirt from playing schleudernball, "yes aunt Helga" he said obliging with her order.

He went into his home while Helga waited outside for him to change. He found his spare clothes in a wooden chest by his bed. He put on a deep blue wool tunic and a pair of red plaid wool trousers and placed his dirty clothes on the pile of clothes that he would wash tomorrow. Since it was darker it meant that it was colder so he also put on his long wool cloak and left the roundhouse as he fallowed her to the dining hall.

Helga wore a basic long-sleeved purple gown she was also wearing a long sheepskin cloak to keep warm. They both wore a golden torc around their necks. a torc was symbol of nobility since he was the king's son and Helga the king's sister and they where also part of the Vanerax clan one of the head clans in the tribe, and this feast was going to be more important than the others because the council of elders where going to choose the next king or queen to run the tribe.

The dining hall was a huge wooden building with long tables and benches for sitting, and was located on west side of the village with a food house next to it where food was prepared. Finn and Helga went into the hall and Finn told her that he was going to sit with Thorn and his other friends. She nodded and went to sit with with her mother.

Finn walked over the table where his friends where seated together and took a seat next to Thorn with Bolla on his other side. Alfarin was on Thorn's other side with Stravin and Valhallia next to him. Stravin had what looked like a frustrated look on his face. "what's wrong with Stravin?" he asked curious about what had caused the wolverine's mood to change, he especially loved the feasts because he had a huge appetite. "he had an argument with his dad" she answered biting into a piece of cooked deer meat, "why?."

"he didn't approve of his friendship with Valhallia and I think he heard about him hugging her, so he shouted at him for making contact with her, and Stravin shouted at him for not even knowing her and how sweet and kind she was." "well she is a halfbreed" Finn pointed out while he put food on his plate and poring some cherry-mead into his glass. "yes but Stravin likes her, and he's right she is a kindbeast, you should be nicer to her" she said taking a bite out of one her meatwheels.

"yeah right" he scoffed. "I'm serious Finn!" she said looking at him sternly "okay okay I'll try and be nice to her" he replied groaning. After some time Velran stood up from the table at the front of the hall that faced the other tables where the village elders, the the king and queen, and clan leaders ate and called for silence, the chattering died down for him to speak "now that most of you have eaten it is now time to announce who will be the next king or queen" he announced.

Everyone in the hall went silent listening very intently on who the elder's would name the next leader of their tribe. Arfast an elderly ferret from the Valarex clan stood up from his seat and cleared his throat to speak "we have discussed on who the next leader shall be and we have come to an agreement and the next leader of the Nedrenii tribe will be Oakwyn leader of the Valrax clan."

a thunderous storm of cheers and applauds filled the hall but none where as loud as Valrax clan's. Thorn stood up from his seat cheering for his grandmother. Oakwyn got up from her seat and walked around the head-table to stand in front and took an honored bow at the members of her tribe. Goothar stood up holding the crown of the Nedrenii and moved to stand in front Oakwyn with crown held out, she knelled down to partake in the crowning ceremony "Oakwyn Valrax do you swear to uphold the traditions of your tribe and protect it and it's people for as long you live"

"yes I do" was her reply. "then by the power of the gods and our ancestors I dub thee queen of the Nedrenii tribe" he declared placing the crown on her head. Everyone once again gave out a thunderous applause and loud cheers. Oakwyn called for silence to give a speech "i am honored to be given the title of queen and I promise to do the best I can" she said giving a bow and everyone clapped in response "i also will announce that the six new tribebeast that will become apprentices."

Bolla look at Finn with excitement etched all over her face and Finn smiled back finally they would be assigned to a warrior where they will train as apprentices and go on real missions. "could Banki and Bothvar please standup" she called out, Banki a brown stoat from the Crevex clan and Bothvar a white fox from the Valwulf clan stood up from where they sat.

Oakwyn turned towards Banki "Banki you are a strong and skilled warrior I hope you show your apprentices all you know." "thank my queen, I will" he said giving a bow, Oakwyn bowed in reply "your welcome, Banki your apprentices will be Alfarin, Stravin and Bolla" she declared. Everyone cheered and Bolla let a joyous scream at being made an apprentice.

When the noise died down Oakwyn turned to Bothvar "Bothvar you are wise and powerful as a warrior I hope you pass your wisdom on to your apprentices." "yes my queen" he said giving a bow like the one Banki did. "Bothvar your new apprentices will be Finn Vanerax, Thorn Valrax and Valhallia Nivurix."

Finn was about to give out a cheer but then he had heard her say Valhallia's name which made his jaw drop in shock and he heard shocked gasps come up from all around the hall "what!" that was all Finn could shout but he wasn't the only one to shout other tribebeast shouted protest to Oakwyn's decision "you can't be serious" shouted a weasel from the Manyx clan "how can you let that monster train as a warrior, she's dangerous" a ferret shouted.

Stravin stood up furiously glaring at the ferret "she's not a monster you bastard!" Stravin retaliated. "be silent my son!" Beiner who was his Father roared loudly. "no father!" he roared back. Beiner stood up from the table, the wolverine looked as if he was going to beat his son in front of the entire tribe but his wife Suewyn got up and placed a paw on his shoulder talking to him trying to calm him down. The one thing to know about Stravin's father is that he had a very bad temper so it was very unwise to make him angry.

After a moment he sat back down his dark eyes still seething with anger. Oakwyn once again spoke to try and end the fighting "i know some of you do not agree with our decision but me and the rest of the elders agreed to have her trained as a warrior, so she will be the apprentice to Bothvar along with Thorn and Finn" she said firmly.

Finn look towards Bothvar, the fox appeared to not have been bothered about having Valhallia as an apprentice in fact he didn't even show any signs of shock or said anything when Oakwyn had announced her as his apprentice. Finn had heard about Bothvar before, he was very skilled but when he not on a mission or on the battlefield he was very laid back, not as laid back as Alfarin but still it seemed as if he didn't let matters such as these concern him and he also had long scar running down the right side of his face just below his eye which had fur missing and a strange color in the skin around it as if it had been infected.

"Bothvar you do not mind her being one of your apprentices?" Oakwyn asked. Bothvar then seemed to take notice now that the shouting was down "i don't mind my queen, just another apprentice" he replied calmly. "good" Oakwyn said nodding. Bothvar sat back down in his seat. After a desert of apple tart Finn left the dinning hall with his aunt and friends. Finn said goodbye to his friends and Helga then walked back to his home to go to bed.

**[Stravin's pov]**

Stravin looked down at ground bitterly as he fallowed his parents back their home on the Malinor part of the village. When they reached their home his father went in first then his mother then he came last, once inside his father turned around to face him his eyes giving Stravin a stern look. "do you have any idea how embarrassing that scene you made? was" he growled with his paws on his hips.

"but that weasel called her a monster, I couldn't just let him get away with it" he replied not making eye contact with his father. "you are member of the Malinor clan and you are a decedent of the mighty Malinor son of Algrar god of winter storms. you have the blood of a raging wolverine in you and you need to start acting like a warrior, not a child."

Stravin gritted his teeth "i know father. you always tell me who I am suppose to be but you never listen to what I want and I want be friends with Valhallia." "she is a halfbreed my son and it appears she is getting in your away of becoming a strong warrior worthy of our tribe.

I think you should stop seeing her." "you can't do that!" Stravin shouted glaring at his father right in the eye.

"yes I can, now go to bed!" his father roared pointing a claw to Stravin's room. Stravin opened his mouth as if to say something he just closed it and stomped away furiously into his room and kicked one of his old wooden toys.

**[Beiner's pov]**

Beiner was still tense from his anger at his son. Suewyn placed a large paw on his shoulder "you didn't have to be so hard on him." Beiner sighed and looked at his wife, his eyes more peaceful "i know but I just want him to know who he is and where he comes from." "he knows dear but he has to find his own path, his own destiny, you can't find it for him" she said softly which one might find strange for a creature like a wolverine.

"yes I know that my love, but when I was younger than him my father took me into the woods and found a boulder that was larger than me as a young'n and my father told me to punch at it. So everyday I punched at that boulder, I thought it was crazy, I even thought I was crazy but I still kept at it, and do you know what happened?."

"you got very sore paws?" she asked with sarcasm in her voice. "that boulder grumble into pieces. It was then that I realized what a wolverine can do, he can hammer boulders to pieces, lift tree trunks with just his raw power alone and defeat scores of enemies, he can become invincible" he said moving both if his hands up close to his chin clenching his paws into fist to demonstrate power.

"he does know what a wolverine can do but he has a different warrior code then you, and I am sure that he will live up the clan name dear, that I can steak my life on" she said giving him a kiss "i guess your right. Now let us be of to bed."

**[Finn's pov] **

the next morning Finn woke to see that it was almost midday, realizing that he going to be late he got dressed quickly then ate his breakfast almost as quick and left his home to head towards the woods on the other side of the wall outside the village where one of the training hallows was located. He exited threw a gate and walked into the woods.

After a few minutes of running he made it to the training hollow and saw that Bothvar was already there including Thorn and Valhallia, so Finn ran up to stand by them. Bothvar walked over to them and looked directly at Finn, Finn saw that he was holding a bundle of something that he couldn't see under his arm "your several minutes late, if this was a battle or mission your comrade could be dead by now because they didn't have backup" he said calmly.

"sorry sir, it will not happen again." "good, now let's get to the training" he said coolly. He opened the bundle to reveal three swords that where shorter than the swords that warriors used, "these are your training swords since you are apprentices these will be your weapons for training and missions until you take the warrior test. before you take the warrior test you will be given your own type of weapon that suits you best, now pick your weapon." Finn and the rest of his comrades each picked up a sword.

Finn swung the sword testing it's weight and how far the blade could reach with a swing. It would do for now. "now you see this gold coin on my belt?" he asked turning a bit to show the right side of his belt around his waist and tied to it was a gold coin called a loc attached to string that hung from the belt. The three of them nodded. "good your job is to try and remove it from my belt by any way possible, but i will try anything to stop you but be assured I won't kill you" he said stepping back several paces away.

"you may begin" he said and waited for them to make a move. Thorn chose this time to speak with them "i think we should split up, two of us will distracts him while the other goes for the loc" he suggested. "but how will this work?." "simple, Finn you will attack directly and I will fallow up from either behind you or to his side and we will herd him into a position where Valhallia will go for the loc, got it?" he asked looking at both of them.

"yes" was Valhallia's reply. "yes but do we have to have her in on the plan?" Finn asked referring to Valhallia. "of course! This is Bothvar where talking about, he is a senior warrior, I'm not even sure if working together we'll even be able to get the coin from him." Finn just sighed and nodded his agreement. All three of them drew their swords from their sheaths and got into the battle position.

Finn charged at Bothvar with great speed. The truth is the beast of the Northinian tribes where always gifted with amazing speed even at a young age they where very fast but after seasons of training and meditation a warrior could become unnaturally fast. Finn closed the distance between them and thrust with his sword. In a fraction of a second Bothvar had his sword out it's sheath and parried Finn's attack.

He then swung as a counterattack to Finn's shoulder. Finn barely had time to rise his sword to block the sword strike but the second he blocked the strike Bothvar kicked out catching Finn in the chest with a front kick sending him crashing to the ground. It was then that Thorn decided to start his attack. Rushing at Bothvar he came at him to his left and aimed a swift blow to his leg.

Bothvar deflected the blow with a downward stroke and made a swing at Thorn's head. Thorn blocked the swing and began unleashing a hail of attacks at the fox but Bothvar blocked the strikes with relative ease and got under his guard and gave Thorn a shallow cut to his right shoulder. Thorn ignored the pain and continued his assaults all the while Valhallia was getting into position to make her strike at the loc tied to his belt.

She waited as both Finn and Thorn battled Bothvar together to distract him. When Bothvar began to block harder that was when Valhallia made her move. She dashed at the white fox with incredible speed and when she was close enough she swung her blade right towards the coin. Bothvar saw the attack coming but he had noticed to late and before he could ward off both of Finn and Thorn's strikes and deflect her sword, Valhalla cut the loc from his belt and it fell to the ground.

Valhallia snatched the coin up and raised it above her head indicating the fight was over. All three of the fighters stopped their battle to stare the coin in her hand. Bothvar sheathed his sword and held out his hand to receive the coin. Valhallia gave the coin back to him and moved to stand next to Thorn and Finn. "very good, I see you can all work together as a team but you'll need to work on your forms and techniques, if I had been an enemy I could have killed you many times during that fight" he said placing the loc back in his pouch.

"yes sir" they all replied bowing their heads. "good, your all dismissed, be here tomorrow at the same time." and so for the next several weeks they learned many new things, such as self defense techniques, sword techniques and meditation. Meditation was a way to get in touch with the energy that lives inside of all life and use it to grant you great strength and speed and was the first step to unlocking the Blutaugen.

Thorn was the first to unlock it he looked around with his crimson colored eyes as if amazed by the things he saw "it's amazing, I can see almost everything, the blades of grass the little insects in the air and even the air from your breath" he breathed out in amazed surprise. Finn had been happy to to see his best friend unlock the Blutaugen but he was also envious he had wanted to unlock his first to show everyone that he was going to be a great warrior but at least Valhallia didn't unlock her's either and he would make sure that he unlocked his before her. Another thing they trained in was an unarmed combat style called FaustundTritt, that involved powerful punches and spectacular kicks.

he decided to do more meditation. He sat in the clearing with his legs folded and tail on the ground in a relaxed position and rested his paws on his knees and closed his eyes feeling the energy with in him. His mind's eye saw the clearly glowing with different auras of energy from the plants and beast.

The fox concentrated on his energy wanting to draw from it, to master his body and use it's full potential. Finn really did feel the energy flow threw him and felt his strength increase as he meditated more. He tested this to find that he was stronger and faster than he had ever been in his life, he could lift rocks easier, he could run faster and farther, he could jump higher even into trees and he could clime better than before.

While he was not training he would join in on hunting with other tribe members, hunting sheep in the fields and deers in woods. a sheep was a very large fluffy animal with wool fur covering most of it's body, it was at least three times larger than fox and walked on four instead of two like them and could not speak a word, they just made a baaing noise but they had to be very careful when hunting or the ram who where the males could run them down and kill them. The other animal they hunted where deer. Deer like sheep where four legged animals with long legs and large antlers, with brownish colored fur all over their body and where at least ten times larger than a fox so the kill had to be set up perfectly or risk it getting away or worse. The Northinian tribes used all of the deer that they hunted, they used it's meat for food, it's fur for warmth, even it's antlers where used to make blow horns. Finn really liked the thrill of hunting, it just felt so right. Along with hunting he also learned how ride dogs.

Dogs where another creature that ran on four legs and resemble foxes and wolves in someway, but they had their own looks and where about the same size as a sheep. The Northinian tribes learned how to ride dogs thousands upon thousands of seasons ago, they used them to haul goods for trade with other tribes and for war especially for pulling their war chariots.

War chariots where two wheeled lightweight wooden carriages with a wood floor and an M shaped arch on each side of it facing sideways next to the wheels. War chariots could not only be used for combat, it could be used for transporting warriors in and out of battle quickly and it was also used for a sport they called chariot racing where they would race the chariots around a track or made up course to try and win. The chariots where strapped onto to the dog chosen to pull by the means of leather straps that was attached to the dog's saddle.

He also learned new sword techniques such as the cyclone strike which was a move in which the user would spin in fast circles striking his blade out at different angles to confuse his opponents and then strike at them when the user gets under their guard. As training went on even more weeks Finn wondered when they would get their first mission because the warrior test weren't for another four season.

But then it happened, Volcryn came up to them one day with a message "queen Oakwyn has asked for you Bothvar and you as well Banki and your apprentices, please accompany me to the elder-house" he announced formally. they all fallowed him threw the village to a square wooden house that was the elder-house, it was a place where the king, queen and elders would do the business that needed to be done to run the tribe, Finn had been here several times when his father was king, but after his father died he didn't go near the place dreading that it would bring was bad memories.

But he ignored the memories and fallowed everyone into the house. The elder-house was fairly large house made of wood and a roof made of straw and had different rooms made of wood. Finn and the others headed into the main room where the king and queen sat but since Oakwyn's husband was killed by woodlanders many seasons ago so there was no king. When a king or queen elected by the elder council it is the one elected that has the power not their wife/husband but they can give their opinions.

Oakwyn sat in her chair reading a scroll then out it down in the wooden desk when she saw them enter. "good, you brought them, thank you Volcryn, you may leave now." "your welcome milady" he said bowing then moving by them to leave. Oakwyn turned her attention to everyone else in the room "the reason I summoned you here was because I have a mission for you" she announce with her head resting on her intertwined fingers as her elbows rested on the wooden desk.

Bolla stared at Finn excitedly as if saying _ finally we get to go on our first mission. _Finn the returned the look with a smile, he was drawn back to attention when Bothvar spoke "what is this mission?." "there's trouble at the border between our land and the Goths land, one of our border patrols patrolling that part of the boarder has not comeback yet and they have missing for at least several days now" she answered resting her paws back on the desk.

"and you want us to investigate?" Banki asked. "yes and if they are not in great numbers then you are allowed to engage them in combat, but if they have to many warriors then do not engage them come straight back here and we will send an attack-party to drive them off." "milady how do we know this is the work if the Goths, it could be the wolves or other tribes trying to distract us" Bothvar inquired.

"we don't but it's too risky if this is the work of the Goths then we have to act soon before they do really horrible damage." "we will be ready to leave by tomorrow if that is good for you my queen" Bothvar said mildly. "yes, it is good, you may leave now" she said dismissing them. They left the elder-house and Banki and Bothvar turned to face them "be at the main-gates tomorrow at midday and make sure you bring food and supplies it will be a long journey."

they all nodded their understanding and headed back to their homes. Finn was both exited and nervous, he would go on his first mission but there was the possibility of dieing but he brushed away the thought he would have to get use to the possibility of dieing if he was going to be a great warrior. He said goodbye to his friends and walked home hoping for tomorrow to come sooner.

**End of chapter 1**

**author's note: I hoped you enjoyed this chapter and I like to see your reviews on this chapter. Most the names including all of the clan names I made up and the rest are mostly Norse and German names like Finn is a Norse name. I also was inspired by the Celtic and Germanic tribes, if you haven't guessed it the Goths are based off of the Germanic tribe.**


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